Mystery Lover: Horseless Rider
by Aang Beckett
Summary: Shep and his lovely lady are on Earth for a special occasion...but as usual, trouble follows wherever she goes.


**Author's Notes~ **This is for my Sis, it seems Shep's pretty lady has a knack for trouble...even on Earth. Love ya Sis!

* * *

Hoof connects to bone, her legs give out from under her and she yelps in pain as she collapses to the ground again, her horse is galloping off into the distance and she is alone, her left shin is throbbing painfully from the impact of the horse's kick.

Back at Dave Sheppard's, Dave and John have just arrived back home when her little paint horse comes galloping up without its rider. Mary Alice pokes her head out the door and sees the horse, realizing it returned without its rider, and ducks back into the house in a hurry. She knows she should never have let Shep's redheaded lover take off on her own.

He realizes that this was the horse she'd ridden the last time they'd gone riding. She must still be out there. He begins to worry, she could be injured, she'd be all alone…who knew how long it had been since the horse had dumped its rider and run off.

Alone in the great outdoors, she takes stock of her situation, the wind is blowing bitterly, chilling her to the bone, her leg won't hold her weight and she doesn't quite know how far she is from the house. She'll have to hope the horse went back and that they notice she isn't with her horse.

She looks around her one more time and sees several wild animals approaching. Each one is glowing slightly, shining. They are spirits. She notices the wolf, it is carrying what looks to be a walking stick, which it sets near her hand. She picks up the stick and levers herself up, the animals lead her down the hillside a bit, to a ledge just out of the way enough to be out of the wind, where she sits down again with her back against the rock behind her.

The stick she had been holding is taken from her by a large deer, and all of the animals begin to walk away, disappearing into the wind and fading away, except for the wolf. It lays down next to her, leaning up against her, and she can feel its body heat. She reaches one hand out to touch its head, stroking the spirit's fur.

It's beginning to get dark now, she is glad her wolf friend has stayed nearby, the wind is stronger now but she is not exposed to it. She only hears the wind whistling. She feels lost, worried, afraid…even lonely, even though she has the wolf by her side. Her leg throbs painfully again and she wonders if Little Sis can feel her, if she'll call Shep and ask where her sister is…she knows he'll come and find her.

***  
The sun is beginning to creep over the hills, he's been out riding all night and hasn't found her. He sees the hoof prints in the hard dirt in front of him, this is the right direction…but just up ahead, the hoof prints stop, become all muddled up, and turn back the other direction…lighter, as if the horse was without a rider. He must be close, just the other side of this hill.

As Shep approaches, the wolf's ears prick up. It nudges her awake, she'd fallen asleep, and she watches it turn to walk away, glance back at her, and then vanish into thin air, leaving her sitting on the ledge. His horse comes up over the hillside and he spots her sitting against the rock, he is off his horse almost before it stops walking and fairly runs down the hillside, skidding to a stop beside her. She looks up at the sound of the commotion and smiles at him, her spirit guide must have heard him coming.

For a moment, he falls to his knees and just sits beside her, holding her close, his hand cupping her face gently, thumb stroking her cheek. She smiles, her hand goes up to cover his, and she is so glad he found her, the loneliness, worry and fear leaves her.

"Shep, I'm so glad—" He cuts her off with a kiss as he lifts her into his arms, she melts into the kiss, but winces slightly as her injured leg is moved, and he gives her a concerned look.

"Are you alright?" He asks her, his green eyes shine a bit with worry and exhaustion, he's just been out all night searching for her and she realizes that as she looks up at him.

"It's just my left leg, bloody horse got spooked and kicked me in the shin after dumping me right out of the saddle," She gestures to her left leg, which he now notices has turned a shade of purple and is swollen. He gently hoists her up onto the horse and mounts behind her, she leans back against his chest, and one of his arms is reaching to hold the reins of the horse while the other is securely around her, holding her on.

He makes sure the horse is taking it fairly slow back to the house, the longer he can enjoy riding with her in front of him and the easier it will be on her leg. He leans and kisses the top of her head, still feeling such relief that he found her, and aside from her shin, she was alright…it was almost as if something had been protecting her, but he dismissed the thought, she'd been alone when he'd found her.

She glances off to one side and notices the wolf standing in the woods, shimmering slightly, and she smiles at it. Her spirit guide, it had protected her until her lover could find her and rescue her…as if it had known he was coming for her all along.


End file.
